Beduins, Mosada and the Dead Sea

Been through the desert.  This horse had no name.

On their final day trip in Israel, Anne and Mark again headed south.  Their first stop was unscheduled -and mostly invisible.  The guide, Nadir, pulled to the side of the road and told everyone to get out of the van to look at the monastery.  This was quite a strange thing to say because there was nothing but large rock walls on either side of the road.  Nadir encouraged Anne and Mark to walk toward the peak of the rock on one side and after a few steps, they noticed a crucifix on top of the rock.  Nice crucifix, but a far cry from a full monastery.  But Anne and Mark soldiered on up the hill, anyway.  At the peak, they finally figured out what was going on - the monastery was hidden in the rock below, invisible to anyone who did not know where to look.

If the day had been less filled with other adventures, Anne and Mark could have hiked down to the monastery to check out the grounds.  Of course, at that point they would have had to climb out - not something Mark was anxious to try.  Luckily, there was a band of Beduin nomads who noticed that the taxi had stopped at this site.  The Beduins rode up to us on their donkeys and offered us a ride to the monastery for a pretty fair price (pretty fair for us and the Beduins - I bet the donkey who had to drag Mark's ample carriage up and down the cliffside would have failed to find it "fair").  But time was short, so we passed on the offer.  Anne did take the opportunity to try on the local headgear.

The stated purpose of this trip was a visit to Masada and then to the Dead Sea.  Masada was a fortress used by Jewish resistance forces after Rome started throwing its weight around.  Actually, the fortress has a history older than that - it was fortified by Herod and may have ties to Cleopatra and Marc Antony - and newer - it was used as a church in the 6th century or so - but the main story of Masada is of the siege by the Romans and the holdout there by the Israelites.

The cliffs of the fortress were fairly steep and rise about 1300 feet above the desert floor.  The options for getting to the top include (1) a steep, winding hiking trail along the side of the fortress or (2) riding in a cable car.  Anne and Mark selected option (2), but took the opportunity to imagine what it would have been like if they had chosen (1) - so it's basically like they hiked up there themselves.

The story of Masada is one of a determined siege made by the Romans and a long hold out against it by the Israelites stationed there.  Refusing to bend to the demands of the Roman emperor following an uprising, some Israelites fled to Masada.  The Romans eventually surrounded them there and laid siege (the square rock formation in the right foreground of the photo above is the remains of a Roman camp).  The siege lasted for several years.  Eventually, the Romans built a ramp and battering ram and attempted to force their way in.  When it because clear that the Romans would make it inside, the Israelites inside decided to go with a "death before dishonor" strategy.  When the Romans finally made it inside the fortress they realized that all of the Israelites had committed suicide rather than submit to the Roman religion and other demands.

For centuries the site was buried beneath sand and debris - basically lost or forgotten.  Not until efforts made in the early part of the twentieth century was it excavated to the extent it is today.  Now, visitors can walk in and around the cistern, banquet halls of King Herod, and the site where the wall was finally breached by the Romans.

Anne demonstrates how to not stay with the group.

Those readers who know Anne and Mark may recognize that if Mark had a super power, it would be sweating through t-shirts.  As you might imagine, wandering through the desert on a fairly warm day was prime time for Mark sweat.  To fend off unpleasant side effects of this phenomena, the group next headed for the Dead Sea.

Mark placed his toes under the water for the benefit of viewers of this photo.

The Dead Sea is unlike any other body of water that Anne and Mark had ever visited.  First, you would have to try pretty hard to drown in this Sea.  In fact, you would have to try pretty hard to even get your body under the water.  The Sea is so salty that swimmers' bodies basically float on top, rather than sinking (at least as far as you would in a normal pool or Sea - at least up to the torso).  It was difficult to even keep one's feet below the water in the Dead Sea.

Swimming in the Dead Sea is a unique experience and there is a significant amount of initial novelty in doing it.  However, after a few minutes splashing around, swimmers in the Dead Sea will notice a film building up on the skin.  It is a bit slimy.  After showering, the sea salts which had contacted the skin left it feeling very soft.  Quite a fun experience, but a slimy one (not one that Anne and Mark are in a big hurry to repeat).

The rocks in the foreground are covered in salt.  The mountains in the background are actually located in the nation of Jordan.